Leski, the third Slovene judoka to reach the podium in the last six Games, is proud of her heritage and her country’s legacy in the sport. 

"The judo women in Slovenia, from a population of just 2 million, have become a powerhouse. This year we had a campaign in Slovenia promoting nature and Olympic spirit and the slogan was ‘it’s all in our nature.’ It’s on point! We are a hardworking nation. We have results and have learned what it takes to come here," she said in an interview with the International Judo Federation. 

Before Leski, fellow Slovenes Tina Trstenjak and Urska Zolnir also championed in Olympic judo in the -63kg weight class. Both Trstenjak and Zolnir earned two medals from two different Olympic Games. She said she had some very big shoes to fill, but she aimed to enjoy the experience of competing in the Games rather than focus on the pressure. 

"Everyone else puts pressure on me because I’m walking in big shoes but my aim was to enjoy and to leave with great memories and now I have the gold medal too so it’s a different set of great memories," she explained. 

Leski does outline some short and long-term plans she has after her big win. Including taking a short break from competition and perhaps explore her gourmand side. She hopes that she can use her media attention to be the voice for her fellow athletes and incite change in the way they are treated. 

"It’s great that with this medal I can have a voice in sport. I have a lot of opinions on things that really matter, both inside and outside sport. Already, just one day after winning this medal I could feel feedback from home and even in these first interviews I am being given the chance to speak about my ideas and my route here… Maybe now I can make some changes where it will benefit future athletes. I have seen other athletes receive a huge backlash from making small mistakes in competition. People don’t understand how much everyone puts into it, to get here and compete at this level. There can be a lot of very negative messages and athletes who are already down don’t need that added negativity…It hurts my heart to see any athlete isolate themselves due to this public weight of opinion. I will advocate for better responses and systems," the judoka said in the interview.